When Andy Christie slides into the low‑slung seat across from the laptop screen in an office at the StoneX Stadium, the clock has ticked past 8.35pm on Saturday. The first impression is surprise when he fills the screen because, even at a shade over 6ft 2in and 16st, he isn’t the biggest of back-rows. Less surprising is that the Saracens and Scotland flanker looks a bit shattered.
Over the course of a week, he has flown up to Edinburgh for a pre‑Six Nations camp, flown back, put in a man-of-the-match performance for Saracens in their 40-22 win against Exeter, dealt with multiple interviews, and is now slurping an unappetising looking beige recovery drink before jetting off to Alicante first thing in the morning.
Adding to his four caps is the immediate priority – Gregor Townsend is due to name the team to play Wales on Thursday – having missed out on the recent World Cup because of a broken arm.
Christie has given himself a fighting chance despite the level of competition in his position. The former Scotland lock Jim Hamilton posted on X after Saturday night’s match that he’d potentially played his way into the starting lineup after his third man-of-the-match performance in only eight games. Both player and country want to put the World Cup behind them. The 24-year-old had to pull out of Scotland’s training squad in the run‑up to France 2023 when his injury required three operations and part of the bone from his hip grafted into his arm; Scotland failed to progress from their pool faced with the might of South Africa and Ireland. Now it’s time to look ahead.
“That was probably the lowest point of my career in a way,” Christie says. “It was a tough few months but as I sit here now I’m quite grateful for it and I feel like I’ve responded well. I guess I had to do a bit of soul searching. I’ve been coached by Calum Clark [the former Northampton player, now a performance psychologist] who has helped me learn how to deal with these things. Things in life don’t always go to plan. I hope there’s going to be more opportunities to put the thistle on again.
“The vibe [in last week’s camp] was brilliant. We’re a group that love being together. I loved being back. Training was an extremely high standard and I think a lot of people were blown away considering it was week one; it was quick, it was accurate, which I think if anything just built more excitement among the group.”
A foot-in-mouth query about whether Jamie Ritchie being replaced as captain might help his cause is met with raised eyebrows, laughter, a bit of hailing Ritchie as a brilliant player and leader, as well as: “You know Rory Darge is also back‑row and co-captain, right?” Well, yes, but the “co” part seems quite pertinent. The other new co-captain is Finn Russell, meaning Christie is led by two of the foremost fly-halves of their generation for club and country. How does Russell’s leadership compare with that of Owen Farrell?
“You can see in the way they play they’re quite different, but from my experience, even when Finn and ‘Faz’ have not been captain, they are both phenomenal leaders in their own right. Both leading by example, both two very hardworking players, both often last on the training pitch and two players who spend a lot of time analysing and watching the game and giving necessary feedback too. But you can see in how they go about things they are different in their style too, which is quite refreshing.”
Listening back to the recording to transcribe the interview on Monday morning, a voice pipes up across the kitchen table eager to delay some last-minute homework after catching one of the names … “Is that your interview with the Messi of rugby?” “No, it’s not Finn Russell,” I say. “We’re just talking about him.” “Ronaldo?”
That isn’t how it works, I add, and silently curse Netflix. So we watch some clips of Christie. The if-he-was-a-footballer debate goes on for a while before we settle on Rodri (over Declan Rice – the nine-year-old Arsenal fan’s choice) and it still doesn’t feel like quite the right fit for a behemoth-felling, powerful yet smart wing-forward.
As Christie keeps talking on the recording about another form of leadership, I lean back over the table: “What’s the homework again?” “I’ve got to write about Saint Martin de Porres from Peru. The saint of barbers … innkeepers … mixed-race people and racial harmony. For Racial Justice Sunday.”
Come and listen to this bit, then. Christie, whose father, Patrick, is Nigerian, has been a patron for Show Racism the Red Card for the past year or so. “It starts with leading by example,” he says. “It starts with being seen. For me, the more I can play, the higher level I can play, the more kids, the more people, can turn on the TV and see me playing for Saracens and Scotland and see a black guy out there and doing it.”
On a podcast last year with Shaka Hislop, the organisation’s honorary president, and the former England international Luther Burrell, the latter discussed his own experiences in dealing with racism. Christie, it was clear, feels the responsibility of representation and his involvement with the charity is a case of: “I don’t want to wait until someone’s racist to me or anyone else to think: ‘Now it’s time to get involved.’ I’m a proud patron, I do want to give back and be someone people can look up to. I love the fact I’ve got a bit of platform to spread what I think is a massively important message.”
Another campaign he supports is Blood from a StoneX, run by Saracens and StoneX to raise awareness of the rare Ro blood type common to individuals of African and Caribbean descent, which is needed to help fight sickle cell disorder. Row R of the stadium has been rebranded Ro for the season to encourage more donors to come forward. “I’m massively proud of the club for driving it,” Christie says. “It’s unique, I’ve not seen it really spoken about before. Even walking up the stairs to the box today and seeing row Ro in the stand, I’m so proud of the work that’s gone into it.”
Christie grew up in a village outside Bristol, the middle of three brothers – all of whom have played rugby to a high level – and qualifies for Scotland via his mother Victoria’s family. His grandmother, Margaret, hails from Glasgow while his grandfather, Kenneth is “like my favourite person on the planet”.
“He took me to my first Scotland trials, even Scottish exiles, he would drive me from Bristol Grammar School so I could be at those camps, drive me back, stay in a hotel whilst I did all that.
“My mum and grandparents are probably the first people I call after a game in the car on the way back. My granny will write down what commentators say so she can tell me on the phone when I’m on the way back and she’ll be like: ‘Oh they said you were really powerful’ … and she sends me newspaper articles she thinks I’ll be interested in. Honestly, my family’s brilliant and they’re a massive driving factor for me.”
His family went viral after he filmed their reactions when he delivered the news of a last-minute Scotland debut against France in February 2022, when Hamish Watson went down with Covid and he came on to the bench. “I knew that their reactions would be gold. I still go and watch back sometimes when I’m feeling a bit down.”
Of the debut itself, he says: “I absolutely loved it, the whole day. I just took it all in; I took my headphones off on the bus so I could hear the fans. The best moment – and I always say that if I could bottle it up and sell the feeling I would be a billionaire – was singing the anthem.
“I looked out and I could see my family. In that moment everything hits you. You are grateful more than anything but I also remembered all the times my grandad had taken me to Sheffield and to Scotland; all the times my family have stood in the rain watching me as a young kid. My life flashed before my eyes and it was the proudest day of my life.”
